Month: October 2011

We have all heard the range of opinions on the effects of the sovereign debt crisis in the European Union. Greece has gotten the most press as their crushing debt load and rapidly declining economy has their citizens up in arms. We have all seen the footage of peaceful protests on the Greek Parliament building turning suddenly violent and scary. Portugal and Ireland are the next worse off in terms of their balance sheets. Both have large overall debt loads and large current deficits that need to be addressed. The most recent fear is that of Italy and Spain who have each much larger economies and therefore pose a drastically greater threat to the global financial system.

The question then is how does this whole situation get resolved? To answer that question we look a little deeper into the situation and ask further questions. Who are making these decisions? What are their primary interests? Who are their constituents and what do they feel about it? All in all its a messy situation but one that I think has a logical outcome. One that is not nearly as scary as some people might think. […]

Bookshelf

The Kraken

Below the thunders of the upper deep;
Far far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
About his shadowy sides; above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
Unnumber'd and enormous polypi
Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.
There hath he lain for ages, and will lie
Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.